GAME RECAP: Auburn 88, Washington 66

Washington scored the first basket of the game.

Then Auburn ran off fourteen straight points and the game was over.

Bruce Pearl’s 11th-ranked Auburn Tigers demolished a good Washington team at Auburn Arena tonight, leading by eighteen at halftime and never looking back.

Auburn’s 88-66 win gives the Tigers a winning streak, as they now sit at 2-0 on the young season, with only one game over the next week before the Maui Invitational begins before Thanksgiving.

It was the Samir Doughty show for the first twenty minutes, as the VCU transfer poured in 14 points on 4-6 shooting to go along with a pair of rebounds and three assists. He led nine Auburn players that got into the scorebook with his huge effort. Washington actually outshot the Tigers 48% to 40% in the first half, but Auburn got 11 offensive rebounds and 20 points off of turnovers in completely flustering the Huskies out of the gate.

Leading 48-30 at the break, Auburn increased the lead to 30 points after Jared Harper’s second made three of the game put the margin at 64-34 just four minutes into the half. Washington put together an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to just 22 at 71-49, and they started stringing together makes while Auburn went cool from the floor. However, the Tigers would recover and keep the distance between themselves and the Huskies thanks to timely baskets and plenty of fouls from Washington. In the end, a Chuma Okeke three in the final two minutes led to Bruce Pearl emptying the bench and sending the walk-ons in for the final moments.

Austin Wiley saw his first action of the season, but he was exceptionally rusty with fouls and a couple of turnovers. It didn’t matter as the rest of the front court took care of business. Jared Harper and and Bryce Brown didn’t even really have their best games of the night either, and that’s why this win is so gratifying. Auburn’s not leaning on one or two guys to make things happen, and they’ve got an incredibly talented and deep roster. Make no mistake, this is a Washington team that will contend for the PAC-12, and Auburn roasted them.

Doughty finished with 18 points, while Chuma Okeke led everyone with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the year. Harper and Brown both added 13 points apiece. Jaylen Nowell had a really solid game for Washington with 16 points on 7-9 shooting.

The victory is Auburn’s first home win over a non-conference ranked opponent since 1970, and the Tigers will get to enjoy this one for a couple of days before they take the floor again. Mississippi College comes to town on Wednesday, November 14th for a 7 PM CST tipoff at Auburn Arena.